Carly Fiorina: "My hope" is that Trump understands Russia’s role in the Syria conflict

2017.04.11
09:30

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said in a radio interview Tuesday that she hoped President Trump has a better understanding of Russia’s role in the escalating Syrian conflict.

“There’s no question Russia is a bad actor in this region,” Mrs. Fiorina, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said on “The John Fredericks Show,” adding, “My hope is that President Trump understands that now.”

Mrs. Fiorina reacted to a new report citing a senior administration official saying that there is no consensus on whether Russia knew of Syria’s chemical attack beforehand.

“Interesting that they felt the need to say that,” Mrs. Fiorina said. “I think it’s to defuse tensions before [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson meets with his counterpart.”

This latest development conflicts with earlier reporting from The Associated Press that the U.S. concluded Russia did have earlier knowledge of the attack.

Mr. Tillerson is scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Moscow this week. He is not scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at this time.